Patriots’ Brady expects 49ers to get defensive

Quarterback Tom Brady is preparing to face the stingiest scoring defense in the NFL and a team he grew up following as a youth in San Mateo, Calif.

By Glen Farley

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Glen Farley

Posted Dec. 13, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 13, 2012 at 1:07 PM

By Glen Farley

Posted Dec. 13, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 13, 2012 at 1:07 PM

FOXBORO

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He attended San Francisco 49ers games at Candlestick Park as a kid – his dad had season tickets – often decked out in Joe Montana and Steve Young replica jerseys.

Had he been born a couple of decades later, who knows, perhaps San Mateo’s Tom Brady would be sitting at the ’Stick decked out in Aldon Smith or Patrick Willis threads.

Instead, the Patriots quarterback was in Foxboro on Wednesday, listing the attributes of the 49ers defense he’ll face at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

“Speed,” Brady began, adding, “They play well together. They’re physical. They stop the run. They rush the passer. They can cover. They create turnovers. They play well in long-yardage situations. They’re good in the red area. They do everything well.

“They were in the (NFC) championship last year, had a great season, they’re off to a great start,” he continued. “They’ve won some really tough road games. At New Orleans is tough. They won that one (31-21). At Green Bay is as tough as it gets. They won that one (30-22). So they can win on the road. They’re a very good team.”

If Montana and Young were once the players most closely associated with the 49ers back in the day, it is their defense that is their calling card today.

In a classic matchup of high-powered offense versus rock-solid defense, this weekend’s nationally televised contest will pit a Patriots’ offense that leads the NFL in scoring against a 49ers’ defense that has surrendered the fewest points in the league.

It is a defense led by second-year outside linebacker Aldon Smith (and also featuring end Justin Smith), whose 191/2 sacks are just three shy of Michael Strahan’s league-record 22-1/2 in 2001, and Willis, the sixth-year inside linebacker who always seems to be around the ball with Willis credited with 140 tackles, 13 quarterback pressures, eight QB hits and eight passes defensed.

“There’s no real weakness on this defense,” said Brady. “They do everything well.”

Asked how an offense that is averaging 36.3 points per game deals with a defense that is allowing just 14.2 PPG, Brady replied, “You have to do everything well, too. That’s what happens when you play a team that is as capable as they are.”

If the 49ers’ defense is on top of its game, Brady is on top of his as well.

Brady was named on Wednesday as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the league-leading 23rd time in his career. He earned the award with his four touchdown passes in Monday night’s 42-14 annihilation of the Houston Texans.

Naturally, though, Brady is looking ahead, not back. Fact is, in anticipation of the condensed turnaround from a Monday night to a Sunday night game, Brady began putting in his time on the 49ers some time ago.

Page 2 of 2 - “After our Thursday night game against the Jets,” said Brady, reflecting on the Patriots’ 49-19 win over New York on Thanksgiving night, “I tried to do a bunch of work on the Niners. So I put a couple of days in there.

“Actually, after the game on Monday night, I felt I just had to watch their most recent game. I was caught up so I tried to take advantage of a little extra time, a little planning. (I) probably wouldn’t have done that 10 years ago.”

All in preparation for a team he grew up watching.

Sunday night’s game will mark just the second time that Brady has faced the 49ers, the first being in the 2004 regular-season finale at Gillette when he completed 22 of 30 passes for 226 yards and two TDs with one interception in a 21-7 win.

Brady has never played the Niners at Candlestick, missing the Patriots’ one trip there during his 13-year career, their 30-21 victory on Oct. 5, 2008, with the knee injury he had suffered in that year’s season opener.

Four years have passed since then, time in which Brady has added to his legacy to the point where he is often compared to the Hall of Fame quarterback he once idolized.

“I don’t think about that much at all,” Brady answered when asked about comparisons to Montana. “I don’t think about comparisons much. I really don’t.”